Ultrasound is widely used for both diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Therapeutic ultrasound includes a variety of procedures concerned with diseases or aesthetic treatments. Body shaping and contouring occupies a significant role in aesthetic ultrasound treatments, in which fat cell destruction is accomplished by applying low frequency ultrasound to a desired area of the skin. In this type of fat treatment, energy is primarily delivered to the subcutaneous layers of the skin where fat cells are heated until lipolysis occurs.
To achieve this desired effect, an ultrasound probe is positioned on the patient's skin and ultrasonic (hereinafter “US”) energy heats the deeper skin layers. This known treatment may require a long continuous application of US energy and may have undesirable side effects such as raising the temperature of the shallower skin layers closer to the skin surface.
Alternatively, focused ultrasound probe may be employed to focus higher densities of energy at a required depth to achieve a similar lipolysis effect. However, such a type of US energy beam is focused on a smaller treatment spot and thus usually requires a prolonged treatment to cover a desired body treatment area.
Skin tightening is another common aesthetic procedure which may be done using US energy. Skin tightening is achieved by shrinking and or producing new collagen in the dermis layer of the skin.
Thus, there is a perceived need to provide a non-focused US energy delivery apparatus which has the capability to destroy fat cells, while keeping the skin surface cool as well as providing shallow skin tightening in one single apparatus.